Espressif ESP32-S3
The ESP32-S3 is a series of single and dual-core SoCs from Espressif based on Harvard architecture Xtensa LX7 CPUs and with on-chip support for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
All embedded memory, external memory and peripherals are located on the data bus and/or the instruction bus of these CPUs. With some minor exceptions, the address mapping of two CPUs is symmetric, meaning they use the same addresses to access the same memory. Multiple peripherals in the system can access embedded memory via DMA.
On dual-core SoCs, the two CPUs are typically named “PRO_CPU” and “APP_CPU” (for “protocol” and “application”), however for most purposes the two CPUs are interchangeable.
Toolchain
You can use the prebuilt toolchain for Xtensa architecture and OpenOCD for ESP32-S3 by Espressif.
For flashing firmware, you will need to install esptool.py by running:
$ pip install esptool
Building from source
You can also build the toolchain yourself. The steps to build the toolchain with crosstool-NG on Linux are as follows
$ git clone https://github.com/espressif/crosstool-NG.git
$ cd crosstool-NG
$ git submodule update --init
$ ./bootstrap && ./configure --enable-local && make
$ ./ct-ng xtensa-esp32s3-elf
$ ./ct-ng build
$ chmod -R u+w builds/xtensa-esp32s3-elf
$ export PATH="crosstool-NG/builds/xtensa-esp32-elf/bin:$PATH"
These steps are given in the setup guide in ESP-IDF documentation.
Flashing
Firmware for ESP32-S3 is flashed via the USB/UART or internal USB DEVICE JTAG interface using the
esptool.py tool.
It’s a two step process where the first converts the ELF file into a ESP32-S3 compatible binary
and the second flashes it to the board. These steps are included into the build system and you can
flash your NuttX firmware simply by running:
$ make flash ESPTOOL_PORT=<port>
where <port> is typically /dev/ttyUSB0 or similar. You can change the baudrate by passing ESPTOOL_BAUD.
Bootloader and partitions
ESP32-S3 requires a bootloader to be flashed as well as a set of FLASH partitions. This is only needed the first time
(or any time you which to modify either of these). An easy way is to use prebuilt binaries for NuttX from here. In there you will find instructions to rebuild these if necessary.
Once you downloaded both binaries, you can flash them by adding an ESPTOOL_BINDIR parameter, pointing to the directory where these binaries were downloaded:
$ make flash ESPTOOL_PORT=<port> ESPTOOL_BINDIR=<dir>
Note
It is recommended that if this is the first time you are using the board with NuttX that you perform a complete SPI FLASH erase.
$ esptool.py erase_flash
Peripheral Support
The following list indicates the state of peripherals’ support in NuttX:
Peripheral |
Support |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|
ADC |
No |
|
AES |
No |
|
Bluetooth |
No |
|
CAMERA |
No |
|
CAN/TWAI |
Yes |
|
DMA |
Yes |
|
eFuse |
No |
|
GPIO |
Yes |
|
I2C |
No |
|
I2S |
Yes |
|
LCD |
No |
|
LED_PWM |
No |
|
MCPWM |
No |
|
Pulse_CNT |
No |
|
RMT |
No |
|
RNG |
No |
|
RSA |
No |
|
RTC |
Yes |
|
SD/MMC |
No |
|
SDIO |
No |
|
SHA |
No |
|
SPI |
Yes |
|
SPIFLASH |
Yes |
|
SPIRAM |
Yes |
|
Timers |
Yes |
|
Touch |
Yes |
|
UART |
Yes |
|
USB OTG |
No |
|
USB SERIAL |
Yes |
|
Watchdog |
Yes |
|
Wi-Fi |
Yes |
WPA3-SAE supported |
Wi-Fi
Tip
Boards usually expose a wifi defconfig which enables Wi-Fi. On ESP32-S3,
SMP is enabled to enhance Wi-Fi performance.
A standard network interface will be configured and can be initialized such as:
nsh> ifup wlan0
nsh> wapi psk wlan0 mypasswd 3
nsh> wapi essid wlan0 myssid 1
nsh> renew wlan0
In this case a connection to AP with SSID myssid is done, using mypasswd as
password. IP address is obtained via DHCP using renew command. You can check
the result by running ifconfig afterwards.
Tip
Please refer to ESP32 Wi-Fi Station Mode for more information.
Wi-Fi SoftAP
It is possible to use ESP32-S3 as an Access Point (SoftAP).
Tip
Boards usually expose a sta_softap defconfig which enables Wi-Fi
(STA + SoftAP). On ESP32-S3, SMP is enabled to enhance Wi-Fi performance.
If you are using this board config profile you can run these commands to be able to connect your smartphone or laptop to your board:
nsh> ifup wlan1
nsh> dhcpd_start wlan1
nsh> wapi psk wlan1 mypasswd 3
nsh> wapi essid wlan1 nuttxap 1
In this case, you are creating the access point nuttxapp in your board and to
connect to it on your smartphone you will be required to type the password mypasswd
using WPA2.
Tip
Please refer to ESP32 Wi-Fi SoftAP Mode for more information.
The dhcpd_start is necessary to let your board to associate an IP to your smartphone.
Memory Map
Address Mapping
BUS TYPE |
START |
LAST |
DESCRIPTION |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
To be added |
Embedded Memory
BUS TYPE |
START |
LAST |
DESCRIPTION |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
To be added |
Boundary Address (Embedded)
BUS TYPE |
START |
LAST |
DESCRIPTION |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
To be added |
External Memory
BUS TYPE |
START |
LAST |
DESCRIPTION |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
To be added |
Boundary Address (External)
To be added
Linker Segments
DESCRIPTION |
START |
END |
ATTR |
LINKER SEGMENT NAME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
To be added |